Understanding Permissions for Data Studio Reporting

Jessica Brock

Modified on: Fri, 25 Jan, 2019 at 1:50 PM GMT +2

This guide will explain the different layers of permissions used in Data Studio reporting and how they apply to the Supermetrics connectors and their licenses. This should then help license owners determine what kinds of access to give to their report creators and views, and to better understand what the license affects in the product.

These are the basic layers of permissions, from most general to most specific:

Below are sections for each layer, to describe what they affect in more detail and how it interacts with the Supermetrics licensing.

Data Studio Report File Permissions

This is simply who has access to the report, and defines if they have the ability to edit or view the report. This is based on the permissions set in Drive for the file, and does not impact the data source platform or license permissions.

There can be only one file Owner

Editors can edit the report content itself, they may or may not have Supermetrics license access

Viewers can see the report and refresh it, but cannot edit it

Not connected to license permissions in any way

Data Studio Data Source File Permissions

This is who is allowed to view and change the configuration of the data source file Data Studio produces when a connector is set up. This is based on the permissions set in Drive for the file, and does not impact the data source platform or license permissions directly. But usually one needs have license access to create it from the Supermetrics connector.

Typically, the Owner of the data source file also has license permissions as those are required to make the file

Only the Owner of the file can change the configuration (data source login, selected accounts, fields, etc.), unless the feature that allows you to edit these in the report is enabled

Access not required to this file to Edit or View the resulting report

Will use the data source platform permissions to determine what fields are set and what data is pulled

Data Source Platform Permissions

This is what user account is being used to log into the data source to get data (accessing Facebook, Google Ads, Google Analytics, etc.). The user account does not need license permissions or be connected to the license - one can use any account they wish to access their data.

This is used to control what data the Data Source file is pulling

Does not need license access

Report editors and Viewers will access the data as the user you log into the connector with, unless you change this behavior in the data source's field settings:

Supermetrics License Permissions

This which users have access to the license to use the connector(s) in Data Studio to create their own data source files. This is managed in our Team Management tool and the permissions are assigned to the full team. This does not control who can view or edit the report, only the creation and editing of the data source.

Any member of the team attached to the license can use the connectors to create Data Studio data sources

Editors and Viewers do not necessarily need license access. They will use the data source's permissions to access the data in the report

Has no connection to who owns the report or data source files (though typically those with license access will be Owners of these files)